8 kitchen hacks to help you cook like a pro

You are just an hour away from having your office guests over for a dinner when you noticed the cooking oil smells funny. A run to the supermarket at the eleventh hour is not an option. Don't panic. Open your kitchen cupboard and check for some tamarind you have kept to make 'rasam'. It can work wonders and make your cooking oil smell fresh again.

You can pull off easy solutions to the common kitchen mishaps that often crop up while cooking in a hurry. Likewise, simple kitchen hacks using everyday things like toothpicks will help you better present your dishes or make the cooking process easier.

Try out these easy kitchen hacks for ease of cooking:

1. Fry a small ball of tamarind in cooking oil that has turned rancid. This should keep the oil fresh.

2. While frying savouries, add a quarter spoonful of vinegar to the oil to keep it from frothing up.

3. Drop a few curry leaves into the oil while frying fish. It not only gives the fish a flavour, but also keeps it from sticking to the bottom of the frying pan.

4. Insert thin toothpicks into lobsters and prawns while deep frying them. This will prevent them from curling up.

5. A pinch of baking soda while frying big onions will make them crisp faster

6. A pinch of salt while boiling potatoes will help their skin flake out fast.

7. Soak garlic cloves in water for 15 minutes. This makes it easier to get the skin off.

8. Rub a bit of lime onto chopped raw bananas to keep them from turning dark.